First impressions

For two weeks I have now been in Piura, Peru. It is somewhat what I have expected but luckily there are differences from my image prior to my trip and the actual reality. If it wasn’t so my time here would not be as exciting as it is. Now I want to tell you about my “new life”.

Piura is the oldest Spanish a city in Peru. Although there are ca. 362,000 people living here it feels a lot smaller. I live with a host family in the nicer area of town. One of the benefits of this is having semi-warm water in the mornings :-) My 27 year old host brother Javier has his own sandwich place and takes very good care of me. He has many friends of whom some speak English. Although it is nice to communicate to someone it’s not very beneficial for my Spanish. When I arrived last week I promised them that I will take lessons and start conversing in Spanish soon. However, I am having a hard time finding lessons… When we go out to do something they tell me that just by speaking they can teach me. That is true but I want to learn proper Spanish and therefore might move on to another city soon… But more about that later! Now I want to explain to you what my work is like and what I have experienced so far.

AYNI (the NGO I am working for. Got to https://www.personalphilanthropy.org/ayni.html for more information.) is situated in the village of Altos de los Mores. In the mornings the other volunteers and I take “combis” to Altos. They are privately run and really an experience when you are used to public transportation. Sometimes there are up 25 people in a van made for 12, while going 110 km/h and overtaking slower vehicles/things such as horse carriages, ice vendors or cattle. This might not sound too bad but you should know that there is oncoming traffic also wanting to go faster. But I haven’t seen an accident yet and do not plan to be in one some time soon…

In the village where around 2,500 families live we teach grades 3 through 6 English. Or at least we try to… The volunteers are often seen as play mates by the pupils and therefore the class atmosphere is fairly bohemian. When we enter a classroom we first hear a crowd of children yelling our names running up to us to hug the girls. Me being a guy am greeted with high fives. It’s great to be greeted so warmly but then it gets hard to start the actual lesson. Part of the reason for this is that most children will probably not need good English skills in their lives as most of them work at home, become Mototaxi drivers or join gangs after grade 6. It is awesome to see that some children really appreciate us but many take greater pleasure in tossing paper planes at our faces.

            Each week we have lunch at another family’s house. There are two things about this which are great. First, we get to see how the families live and second we experience their cuisine mainly consisting out of chicken, rice and potatoes. So far I have had lunch at two different places of which both received a loan by AYNI. One family just started recently and the other has been breeding and selling chicken for a long time. You could really see the positive impact the loan had on the latter. They live in a properly constructed house, have a solid floor, a TV and a computer as opposed to crooked brick walls with no floor. However, the family who just started working with AYNI does not seem to be unhappy. The attitude here in Peru seems to be a very positive one. On the first day Javier was encouraging me to speak Spanish with him and to never give up. He told me that it is normal in life to experience setbacks and times of suffering by which we may not be defeated. We have to move forward and make the best out of what we are given. Then he told me about his younger brother who passed away last year and he said that it was, and still are, hard times for him and his family. Nevertheless, he moved onwards, started his business and now is proud of himself: seguir adelante!

            In the afternoons we host biblioteca. For me these are the most exhausting two hours of work. The children of Altos can come to the library and we will play games, read them stories or draw pictures. This might not seem hard at first but often there are around 30 children who somehow never seem to become tired. Also, my Spanish is not good enough yet to settle their fights over pencils or toys. All I can say to them when one, for example, empties the contents of the pencil sharper over another’s head is their name and add “malo” to it. But that will change and then I hopefully can also tell them to swipe the floor so I do not have to do that myself any longer ;-) When we finish we are again met by many kisses on the cheeks and hugs by the girls and high fives from the boys.

            In the evenings I usually go to Javier’s place (1 block from here) and get a sandwich. One reason for this is that they are delicious but also because going downtown on my own might not be safe. It’s really interesting to observe people’s reactions on me walking through town during the day. Some are really nice and sit down next to me on a bench and strike up a conversation (often about soccer when they hear that I am German and also because it is an easy topic to talk about with my limited Spanish skills). Others just give me a look which tells me that I am not very welcome in their country. Especially a lot of younger men do this but I am not yet sure why. Luckily many are very nice people and try to help me when I’m having troubles expressing myself. 

            Okay, so this was a little account on how things are so far. I am happy here and enjoy the laid-back Peruvian life style. I hope that some of my pictures will give you a better image of my new surroundings! 

All the best!

Yours,

Shannon

An ordinary street in Altos de los Mores

Children playing during "recreo" on the school grounds

During bibloteca some kids peek through the window and watch the others play. One reason is that there's only limited space in the library but also becasue some families do not want to by 50 centimos (0,15 €) in order for their children to join.

Kids hanging out after school

The other volonteers at lunch

Housing in the outskirts of Piura

Soccer: favorite acitivity in Altos